


Because He Was Late

by Midnightraider



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Deaf Character, Deaf jokes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally unstable, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Friendship that turns into love, Humor, Jean is a big baby, M/M, Mild Language, Past Abuse, Tons of oblivious characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-26
Updated: 2014-04-26
Packaged: 2018-01-20 21:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1527047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnightraider/pseuds/Midnightraider
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco's deaf. Jean's emotionally unstable. Put them together and you get the perfect friendship. Yeah...Friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Because He Was Late

The first thing you should know about me, is that I’m my mother’s son. And when I had to leave for University, we both cried. Yes that’s right, I, Marco Bodt, in all my freckled glory, wrapped my mother up into a bear hug and cried. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially since this would be the first time that I’d be away for so long.

So here I was, slumped over my bed, staring blankly at my campus map, trying to memorise the layout of the complexes so that I didn’t have to wander around looking like…well like a freshman. Rose University was massive, not to mention the best college in the country and getting in hadn’t been easy. But it wasn’t because of my grades.

Letting out a deep breath, I pressed the heel of my palm against my forehead. I promised myself that I wouldn’t let it get to me, but that’s harder said than done. Closing my eyes, I let out what I think was a frustrated sigh, letting the map fall onto the bed. 

Class would be starting soon, so I decided to stop the oncoming wave of negative thoughts by imagining how great it was to finally be here and settled into my side of the dorm. My roommate had already moved in, claiming the other side of the room with his stuff.

Deciding that I had wasted enough time sulking, I glanced at my watch, reaching for my class schedule to see when I had to leave.

_5 minutes._

That couldn’t be right. Double checking both my watch and my schedule I felt my heart stop. I couldn’t be late on the first day!

Pushing myself off the bed, I scrambled around the room, frantically searching for my bag, which seemed to have disappeared from its original spot by the door. Panicking, I kneeled down and began to look under my bed. Nothing but shoes and boxes. This couldn’t be happening!

_4 minutes._

Using my bed as leverage, I stood back up, turning around to double check that I didn’t leave it in the hallway. What I didn’t expect to see was a short, bald guy standing in front of me, my bag in his hand. I can’t say I didn’t panic, because I did.

I think I shrieked, my voice probably breaking as I jumped back, hands held up in surprise. The guy looked just as stunned as I did, his face the epitome of confused. I don’t blame him; any other person would have heard him come into the room. Except I was deaf.

It wasn’t so bad, if I didn’t count the number of times I freaked out from someone sneaking up on me, or people thinking I couldn’t make out what they were saying about me. Though, I figured I’d be used to the whole, ‘someone may be behind you’ thing, but I obviously wasn’t.

Heaving out some shallow breaths, I lowered my arms. I could feel my cheeks heating up out of embarrassment; I probably looked like an idiot. My eyes automatically focused on the bald guys’ lips, trying to make out what he was saying.

“Shit, dude, Sorry? I accidentally grabbed your bag instead of mine.” He said, offering me back my bag.

“No, it’s alright. Thanks!” I replied back, taking the bag from him and slinging it onto my shoulder. “I just...didn’t hear you come into the room, so you surprised me.”

His expression seemed to relax, though his eyebrows furrowed a bit as he stared at me, his mouth beginning to move again.

“Are you alright? Don’t take this the wrong way but you sound a bit funny.”

I felt like my heart dropped into my stomach. I wasn’t necessarily expecting to not be asked about the way I talked or how I sounded, but I thought I had gotten better at my enunciation. But that’s hard to judge when you can’t hear yourself speak.

As I was about to explain myself, a tall brown haired girl popped up behind the bald guy, smacking him upside the head. Blinking in what I could only call disbelief, I watched her lips as she spoke.

“Connie! You can’t just say that to people!”

Processing the new information, I watched as ‘Connie’ folded his arms his body turning to face her, leaving me unable to figure out what he was saying to her. So I just stood there, awkwardly reading the girls mouth. One sided conversations without context was so strange.

The conversation looked lively, with the girl throwing her arms in the air, Connie soon following suit, as they talked. Looking down at my watch, I couldn’t help but feel a rush of alarm.

_**1 minute?!** _

Looping my arm through the other strap on my bag, I dashed, for the door, stopping only briefly to turn around and give an apologetic smile to Connie and the brown haired girl; who were staring at me with identical questioning looks.

“I’m late for class.” I explained, tapping at my watch.

They both nodded at me, the girl making a ‘get going’ motion with her hands. Not wasting another second, I obeyed, spinning on my heels, dashing out of the room, down the hallway and out the dorm’s reception, towards what I hoped was the music department section of campus.

Nearing Rose University’s Music Department, I pushed through a large set of doors. Scrambling up a flight of stairs, I searched for the music percussion suite. It had to be here somewhere! Stealing a glance at my watch, I almost cried.

I was late.

Frustrated at my lack of time management, I threaded a hand through my hair, stopping for a moment to calm down. If mom were here, I’m pretty sure I’d have gotten a smack upside the head just like Connie did. She’d have given me her unimpressed frown, folded her arms, and inform me of the obvious – that I was late.

Lost in my own thoughts, I forgot that I was standing in the middle of the narrow hallway, until I felt someone bump into me, sending me stumbling forward. Catching myself, I glanced over my shoulder, about to apologise for blocking the way. However, the absolutely venomous look I was receiving from the guy had me frozen in place. 

His mouth moved in slow motion, as my eyes widened involuntarily.

“What the hell is your problem?! You deaf or something!?”

Swallowing thickly, I did the only thing I could think of, which was to nod. The guy was intimidating, even though he was a bit shorter than me, and at that moment in time I was glad to be deaf; that way I didn’t have to hear how angry he must sound.

Plus honesty is always the best policy, particularly when it avoids you getting into unnecessary fights. 

Something seemed to click in his mind, and somehow, almost like lightening, his demeanour changed. His mouth hung open slightly, a hand coming up to scratch at the back of his head. I decided to stray my eyes from his mouth for a moment and look up at his eyes instead.

I got so used to staring at people’s mouths that I rarely take time to look at anything else, in fear that I’d miss something important. In this case I had previously caught a glimpse of the guys face, especially those small, intense light brown eyes and deeply furrowed eyebrows.

Getting a better look at him, I had to suppress the urge to blush. He was attractive, especially when he wasn’t looking like he wanted to rip my head off. With the oddest hair style I’ve yet to see, a two toned undercut that went from light to dark, he pulled it off quite well. His face was all sharp angles, eyes holding mine with a look of regret in them.

Deciding to face him fully, I had to avert my gaze back to his lips, trying to decipher what he was saying. Sometimes, lip reading can become quite difficult, mostly when people talked to fast or when they tended to, as my mom would say, ‘mumble’.

This guy was doing the latter; the only words distinguishable seemed to be along the lines of:

“Fuck, sorry.” And “Late for class.”

Reminding me of why I was in the hallway in the first place I used my hands to grab his attention. Casting my eyes back up to his, I spoke along as I signed out my words.

“It’s alright. I’m late for class too. Do you know where the music percussion suite is?”

His reply will always stick in my mind forever.

“Oh shit! You can talk?”

Doubling over, I began to laugh, my hands bracing on my knees for support. That was the best question anyone has ever asked me. Usually once people find out I’m deaf, they begin to treat me differently, talk to me carefully. This guy had no problem asking what was on his mind. Regaining my composure, I wiped at my eyes since they were tearing up from laughing so much. Once again nodding in reply.

“I’m deaf not mute.” I quipped, smiling at the guy.

Looking like he just had an epiphany, the guy simply grabbed at my arm, dragging me down the hallway I just ran up. Giving him a confused look, I tried pulling out of his grip, but he was having none of that as he stopped in front of a door, opening it and shoving me inside.

An assortment of musical instruments, from harps, to pianos, to clarinets filled my sight. Not to mention a handful of students and an exceptionally short…man? Who was currently making his way over, the look on his face nastier than the one I encountered previously. How that was possible, I will never know.

Searching for the guy that put me in this situation, I found him at my side, hands held out in front of him, a guilty expression on his face as he took a step forward. Focusing on the interaction between the two angry men, I began to catch onto why I had gotten pushed into the room.

“Are you my final two students?” Final two?

“This is the music percussion suite, right?” Was this guy majoring in music too?

“If you read the sign on the door, shit for brains, you would know exactly what room this is.” Oh.

My mouth dropped open, eyes intensely focused on two-tones reply. But it never came. That was odd. Shifting my eyes back up to see his face, I caught his eyes staring right back at me, making me feel very self-conscious.

“What?” I mouthed, puzzled.

His mouth formed into a hard line, a hand rising to point at the teacher…Who was currently giving me the death stare. All I could do was stand there like a deer trapped in headlights. Picking up on movement, I cast my eyes down to my teacher’s mouth. Instantly wishing I hadn’t.

“You constipated or something? Or can you not speak for yourself?”

I felt myself instantly deflate, my head shaking slightly as I began to automatically sign out my words.

“No. It’s my fault that we’re late.”

I imagine that if I could hear, the room would be silent right now. The teacher’s lips twitched for a second, before moving once again.

“Just take your seats. We’re working in pairs and you two are partners. I’m Levi, and I will be teaching this class. Make sure that you get your asses here earlier next time.”

Nodding, I made my way over to an empty seat, sinking into myself as I shot two-tone a tiny glare, folding my arms in an attempt to look mad at him.

Merely shrugging, he took the seat next to mine, blatantly ignoring the look I was giving him. Instead, reaching into his bag to pull out a notebook and a pen. Interested, I leaned over a little to see what he was writing, since Levi seemed to have wondered off to talk to some of the other students.

Ripping off a section of the page, he handed it to me, his lips pursed. Reading the note, I could feel myself begrudgingly forgiving him. He even had nice handwriting.

_“Talk after class? I need to apologise properly and not in front of ‘someone shit in his cereal’ Levi. ”_

Biting my lip, I had to suppress a laugh at the last part. Reaching over, I grabbed his pen, scribbling a short reply back.

 _“Sure.”_ Dotting my name underneath the word, I gave the paper and his pen back to him.

A few seconds later I felt his fingers pressing the note into my hand, watching as he put away his pen, focusing his attention back on Levi.

_“Jean.”_

Smiling to myself, I folded the paper, sliding it into my pocket.

 Jean huh?

Following his lead, I concentrated on Levi for the remainder of class, making sure to not miss anything. All in all, it was relatively straight forward. We would work in our pairs outside of class, on a series of questions that Levi provided us with, having to complete them before next week.

 

* * *

 

After class Jean stayed true to his word. Once we exited the room, our assignments in tow, he stopped, rather abruptly in the hallway, this time to the side. Staring down at him, as he faced me, I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped my lips.

“Shit in his cereal?”

Jean seemed to catch on, his mouth curving upwards a tiny bit.

“You were thinking it too.”

Shaking my head, I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Okay, maybe I was. But you were planning on using my disability as leverage to get out of trouble for being late!” Crossing my arms, I shot him a half-hearted glare.

Whatever form of amusement left his face,  body tensing as he shrugged. I watched his jaw clench and unclench. The process repeating several times, before his lips parted, mouth beginning to move. Squinting, I tried to understand him, but it was futile – he was mumbling. Again.

I may be pretty good at reading peoples lips, seeing as I studied it for most of my life, but with Jean, I couldn't begin to figure out what he was talking about. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I began to say something, but it was lost as soon as I felt him jerk out of my touch. Seeing as that was unexpected, I gave him a funny look, drawing my hand back in a fist to draw a circle on my chest.

“Sorry.” I told him, feeling a bit uneasy at the sudden tension I felt between us.

Sliding his hands into his pockets, his mouth moved normally enough for me to grasp what he was saying.

“Just because you’re deaf doesn't mean I can’t use it to my advantage.”

I could feel my eyebrows shoot up surprise at his bluntness. From what I gathered from Jean, he was very brash, not hesitating to speak what was on his mind and the only other person besides my mom to treat me normally. I liked being treated as a normal person, talked to like a normal person. Jean had no problem doing that – and it made me very happy.

Which is why I couldn't help but grin,  not bothering to sign.

“Wow, Jean. How nice of you.”

His face scrunched up, a hand coming up to cover his mouth as he looked away. Concerned, I leaned over, trying to see if he was alright. But soon enough it became clear to me that…Jean was laughing?

His shoulders were shaking a little, causing the hand he had held up over his mouth to do the same, his eyes slowly looking back over to me. Standing there, I simply stared at him with the most baffling expression, moving my hands to rest on my hips to accentuate the look.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

Taking his hand from over his lips, he gave me an amused smile. I don’t know if Jean was just really moody, or if he just had bad people skills…but he had me utterly confused. One minute he’s acting grumpy then the next he’s giving me a really…nice smile. But who was I to judge.

Holding his hand out, palm faced outwards at me fingers splayed, he shakes his head.

“You said my name wrong.”

Oh. My smile faded a little, and before I had the chance to fully frown, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Glancing down, I regarded Jean with a hesitant look, my eyes flicking from his hand to him. But instead of questioning it, I simply signed ‘Sorry’.

“It’s alright.” He replied, probably remembering me signing it from before. “My name is hard as hell to pronounce anyway.”

I could feel myself relaxing a little. But if I said it wrong…I wonder how it’s actually pronounced? Jeen? That’s what I think it might have sounded like. Guessing his name doesn't sound like the article of clothing then.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the conversation went pretty smoothly. Turns out Jean wasn't as intimidating as I originally thought. In fact he was kind of a dork. Though I made that deduction when he gave me that note in class. I also found out that Jean lived in the Trost dormitories as well, rooming with some ‘angry green eyed kid’ who Jean swears is “the spawn of Satan!”. I highly doubt that, but I went along with it anyway.

Eventually, we started to make our way out of the building and towards our dorm’s. I took the time to appreciate the campus without the looming feeling of being late hanging over me, and since Jean stopped talking, I was more than content to let my eyes wander.

Tall structures littered the area, their names bold and large plastered onto them. A tiny grass area was filled with lounging students, most likely chatting to one another, several trees towering over them. Small refreshment stands were located throughout the campus, the most popular being Starbucks.

By time we made it to the reception area of the dormitory, I was feeling a little worn out. Yawning, I covered my mouth, my eyes involuntarily closing. It had been a pretty long day, and all I wanted to do at this moment in time was take a nap.

Feeling myself being nudged, I opened my eyes to Jean saying something to me. Realising his mistake, he paused, starting over.

“I’m in T215. How about you?”

“T120.”

“Cool. Want to work on the assignment later?”

“Sure, I’m feeling tired, so I think I’m gunna take a nap.”

“Alright, catch you later then.” He said, giving me a slight nod before beginning to walk off.

Hesitating, I quickly ran after Jean, bypassing him to stop and turn around, giving him a nervous glance. Frowning at me, he raised an eyebrow in question at my antics. When I didn’t say anything, he rolled his eyes, bringing up a hand to make the motion of ‘get on with it’.

Instead of speaking, I fished into my pocket, pulling out my phone, giving Jean a sheepish smile. I felt so out of place doing this, but truth be told I just wanted Jean to be my friend.  Seeming to understand what I was getting at, he shook his head, eyeing me down with a smirk, before reaching into his pocket to pull his phone out as well.

“Why do you have a phone if you can’t hear?”

There he went with his straight forward questions. Can’t really say I wasn’t expecting him to ask that though. 

“Because, what I lack in hearing, I make up for in typing.”

Apparently satisfied by my answer, we exchanged numbers, before walking back to our rooms, Jean telling me to text him when I was ready to do work on the assignment. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt giddy, almost like the feeling you get when you’ve seen your crush - Not like I thought of Jean like that though. No way, I was just really excited that I made my first friend at university. That was it.

 

* * *

 

Flopping onto my bed, I was sort of relieved that Connie wasn't here so that I could just take my nap. So, sliding my hands underneath my pillow, I dozed off, thinking about how running late today hadn't been so bad after all.

-

By the time I had woken up, it was dark outside, with Connie still nowhere to be seen. Rubbing at my eyes, I wondered if I should send Jean a text now that I was awake. Groping around the bed for my phone, I picked it up once I found it, bringing it up to my face as I used my thumb to press a button on the side of it, illuminating the screen.

Blinking, I stared at the screen. I had 4 new messages. Must be mom, I did promise to message her later. Swiping my finger across the screen, I unlocked the phone, Jeans name popping up as the messages streamed onto the screen.

**_From Jean:_ **

**_U up yet?_ **

 

Wow, someone was a little impatient.

 

**_From Jean:_ **

**_Dude, it’s 10 in the fucking night, how long r u going to sleep?_ **

 

Taken aback by that last message, I quickly checked the time, not believing my eyes. 11:00pm flashed at the top right hand corner of my screen. I really must have been tired to sleep this long.

 

**_From Jean:_ **

**_Work on the assignment later my ass._ **

 

Laughing, I was about to shoot him a text, when I realised that I hadn’t read his final message.

 

**_From Jean:_ **

**_I’m coming over to wake ur deaf ass up._ **

 

Bolting upright in my bed, I glanced over at my door,  my heart racing for no apparent reason. Looking down at the crack between the door and the floor I saw an unmoving shadow. Maybe it’s Connie. Holding onto that belief, I remained sitting there, staring…Until my phone vibrated.

Startling me, I jumped a bit, checking my phone.

 

**_From Jean:_ **

**_Fuck you can’t hear me knocking. Open the damn door!_ **

 

Well, from what I've learned today, Jean loved to curse.

Trying to calm myself down, I hesitantly began to make my way over to the door, my heart hammering in my chest as I reached for the handle of the door.

_Relax, it’s just Jean. What are you so riled up about?_

Nodding to myself, I swallowed whatever feeling that had me acting this way, opening the door.

Standing there in all of his two-toned glory was none other than Jean. With folded arms and a sour look on his face, he stared me down. I started to sign out an apology, feeling bad about sleeping in so late, but Jean was having none of it.

Holding up a…wait was that a white board?? He began to scribble something onto it with a marker, flipping it around to shove it in my face. Stepping back in order to read it, I slapped a hand to my face.

There, in bright red marker, was a frowning face, with the words ‘shut up’ written beside it.

Not being able to do anything other than usher him into my room, I shut the door.

“Look, I’m sorry! I was just really tired.” I tried explaining to him. “Plus, why are you so upset?”

Because, if I was honest with myself, there was no need for Jean to be acting like this. It’s not like I was the only person he had to talk to. Was I? Watching Jean with mild curiosity, I sighed. Standing there,  rubbing at the board with his hand, he began to write something else.

“You could just talk to me you know.”

Pausing, he looked up at me, his mouth set into a frown, hand shooting out to point accusingly at me.

“You left me stuck in my room with Jaeger!” Jaeger…? Must be his roommate.

With lack of anything other to say, I offered up a ‘sorry’, genuinely confused at how childish he was acting. We’d only met today and yet he was talking to me like he expected me to understand him. I mean, I felt comfortable around Jean, almost like I’ve known him forever. But I think I would have remembered his distinct hair and personality. Plus, I wasn’t just going to tell him that. It’d be weird and embarrassing. Maybe this is just his way of making friends?

“Don’t give me that shit! You promised we’d work on this!” Was his retort.

Honestly, I couldn’t figure out why this was such a big deal. Sure I slept in late, that was my fault, but surely this wasn’t something to get so upset about? We still had a week left to work on it and I had no intent of blowing it off. Giving Jean a hard look, I stepped forward, arms crossed, telling him exactly that.

What I didn’t expect was the broken look he gave me, eyes shining, lips trembling as he dropped the white board and marker to the floor.

“You promised.” He mouthed.

To stunned to move, I simply watched as his body began to tremble, his arms wrapping around himself as he bowed his head. It took me a moment to realise that his body was sinking to the floor, and another to realise that he was crying.

Rushing forward, I dropped to my knees in front of Jean, careful not to touch him – seeing as last time I did he didn’t like it. I laced my fingers together, worried beyond reason as to what I did to set him off.

“Jean..? What’s wrong? I’m sorry for whatever I said to upset you.”

He reacted at me saying his name, though, I know I was saying it wrong, but it was worth a try to get his attention. Which seemed to work, because he lifted his head, eyes still streaming with tears as his lips quivered.

“I’m sorry.” I repeated, giving him a concerned look.

I tensed as Jean leaned forward, burying his face into my shoulder, as I felt his body rack with what I assume was sobs. So, very tentatively, I placed my arms around him, holding him there as he cried.

 

* * *

 

I don’t know how long I sat there, with Jean encased in my arms, thinking about what exactly just happened. Though, from previous experience I can’t say I was one to judge him. If I had crossed a boundary, if I had caused him to break down like this, then I swore to myself that I would never let it happen again. Because he was my friend and if there was something that was bothering him, I’d try and help him through it – if he’d let me.

Jean’s body stopped shaking and I took this as a chance to move my arms, gently grabbing his shoulders and pushing him back. However, his head lolled forward at the motion, body limp in my hands.

“Jean?” I called out.

Still no movement. Keeping him upright with one hand, I used the other to tilt his chin upwards. His face was completely relaxed, eyes puffy and red, not to mention closed, his cheeks flushed and stained with tears. He cried himself to exhaustion.

Slowly I released his chin, deciding that I’d let him rest on my bed.  Gathering Jean up into my arms, I picked him up, making my way over to my bed before lowering him onto the soft blue linen. I sat there staring at him for a while, not being able to help myself from admiring his sleeping face, even if it was smeared with tears.

It wasn’t until I felt the bed move slightly, that I realised he was shivering. Snapping my eyes away from his face, I reached over, pulling up the throw I had on the bed up and over his sleeping form. I could feel my cheeks heating up as I slid to the floor, resting my back against the side of the bed.

_You’re such a creep Marco._

I am aren't I? But can’t I appreciate how good he looks? Even if he just cried till he passed out…

Groaning, I shut my eyes. I’d think about this stuff in the morning, when I could actually think properly.

Dozing  off, I barely registered the light that seemed to flash under my eyelids. To burnt out to care.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first fic in a while! Please be nice and review! Don't be afraid to give constructive criticism!


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